Happenstance
by FivePastTwo
Summary: / /SoulmateAU/ /In a kill or be killed world, where life is sometimes little better than legal tender, Shinazugawa Sanemi- the newly minted Wind Pillar- finds something he never wanted: a former maiko. His soulmate. Slight Manga Spoilers
1. Prologue

Happenstance

/SoulmateAU/In a kill or be killed world, where life is sometimes little better than legal tender, Shinazugawa Sanemi- the newly minted Wind Pillar- finds something he never wanted: a former maiko. His soulmate.

Prologue

The smell of blood is horrible.

I pressed my hand against Sayuri's wound and willed it to close, her shallow gasps would certainly give our hiding place away but I could not hush her. I dare not look at her crushed throat where her neck turned red and gaping with her own blood. She mumbled and groaned but Sayuri could no longer speak. My eyes watered.

She was the pride of our Oka-san, our heiress, her voice was the joy of our house. Sayuri realized her loss and she shed her bitter tears. Seconds turned to minutes and I rubbed some warmth into her shoulders. She was turning blue and colder by the minute, barely hanging on to her life. _Please don't leave me, _I pleaded.

As I held the almost dead and mangled body of my fellow maiko, I saw my own life flash before my eyes.

_Pat Pat Pat_

When I was orphaned at seven, I was quickly sold into this okiya.

I was worth half a pouch of coins, not as much as my uncle wanted but enough to tide over his failing business and feed my hungry cousins. I was shoved towards a lady whom I eventually learned to love and call Oka-san but at that time, I feared so much. I looked into deep dark eyes and felt the sternness in them.

After the exchange, I never saw my uncle again.

What I've expected to be a miserable existence provided me with a family I adored, and more sisters than I could have ever dreamed of. In this okiya, I learned to sing, paint, talk, dance and compose the prettiest poetry. Talents I would have never dreamed of possessing. More importantly, I had a purpose. A sense of belonging.

_But in the blink of an eye, everything is gone._

The sounds of heavy footsteps and laughter echoed within our destroyed house.

"...Sur..vive…" Sayuri whispered, almost inaudibly with the last of her might. The bare vibrations in her throat opened her wound more and she started to slowly gasp more air. Sayuri was drowning in her own blood.

What started out as a normal evening of our house, turned so horrible.

Our Oka-san is dead. Murdered before our eyes as we scrambled away.

I've heard my other sisters scream their last as one by one they were killed by this monster. Sayuri stopped gurgling and her eyes were frozen. My reality dawned on me as I've let my tears freely fall. My screams sliced through the eerie night as the last of my sisters now laid _dead_ in my arms.

_Was he human? How could he talk?_

I could hear the monster's taunt. Speaking words just like how humans speak.

But I could not imagine this creature to once have been like me. To inflict this much sorrow on another human being? How could someone stomach such ignominy?

He described the way he ate my sisters and how much he loved hearing them scream and how he wants to drown in my own. He wants me to run so that I would become a challenging prey. Deep down I know I would have, had I possessed the courage and had my feet had any strength to.

_Survive._

Was Sayuri's last words to me.

My hands were trembling as I wiped my face with my sleeves. I had to live, not just for Sayuri but for the memory of our other sisters who volitionally gave their lives just so Sayuri and I could escape, only by some twisted form of luck, we weren't able to. But I know I don't want their sacrifice to go to waste. _No matter what, I will survive or I _will_ go down fighting._

Grabbing an orchid painted umbrella, the only thing in the room I could use as a weapon, I waited for the monster to come. My heart beat hard against my chest, my eyes were painful from holding back tears. _No matter what, I will survive._

_Thump Thump Thump_

I was suddenly grabbed from behind. My kimono ripped with the force, I felt the warmth of my blood flow down my back, the pain was overshadowed by the fear of what was in front of me.

I found myself face to face with the ugliest thing I have ever seen. The distorted mouth opened and shaped itself into an insult of a smile. It's tongue was tainted with blood and smelled horrid, I felt its ridges and bumps as it slithered around my face.

_"I found you"_

I was petrified. It was bigger than any other human I have ever seen or even any animal I could remember. With all my strength, I whacked the umbrella over his head, breaking the main support but visually doing no damage.

The thing laughed as it threw away the broken umbrella before hitting me against the wall. Blood ran down my nose. I scratched at the hands holding me while the thing continued to laugh.

_"Ah." _The thing looked over where I laid Sayuri's body. Her bloodied corpse staring into nothingness. _"The prettiest one here is dead, but you would do. You would _taste_ nicely." _

I prayed hard for my life.

My eyes closed while he squeezed the life out of me and my body started to tremble from the lack of oxygen. I tried to claw and kick while my vision started to blur. It's so painful.

I gasped loudly when I was dropped, I felt some bones crack. Air started to flow through my body and my lungs worked double time to breath. I looked around disoriented when I saw another person wearing a haori standing between me and the monster. I barely followed the flurry of movements, while my eyes continued to darken.

I laid bleeding on the ground, my consciousness slowly leaving me. I don't know how long it was before the fighting stopped.

"Damned bastards." The man in white haori walked towards me, his sword already sheathed at his side. "This bloodbath only has one fucking survivor."

The crunch of his footsteps towards me were sharp and purposeful. I could not sit up and the ringing against my head was too much.

"Barely." He sniped when he stopped in front of me.

He crouched down and I see his face clearly. My savior looked almost only as old as I was but his face and body were marred with scars. He looked battle weary, very unlike the people I was used to. But like me, he was bleeding. The wound on his chest was deep but the pain did not seem to bother him.

His fingers were rough and calloused as they touched my neck, feeling for my pulse but… suddenly I felt my heart beat a little more rapidly. I felt my body go hot and I have this sense of contentment. For a heartbeat, I could not feel my injury. Like my soul had found its solace. I looked at him and his eyes met mine, they were as surprised as I was. He immediately withdrew his fingers.

Before I let my fatigue won, I knew: I've found my soulmate.

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A/N: Thank you so much for reading. I find Soulmate AU's sweet and at the same time cheesy in a good way and I have never written any soulmate tropes. I hope I do this trope well.


	2. Chapter 1

Happenstance

/SoulmateAU/In a kill or be killed world, where life is sometimes little better than legal tender, Shinazugawa Sanemi- the newly minted Wind Pillar- finds something he never wanted: a former maiko. His soulmate.

* * *

Chapter 1

Sanemi Shinazugawa became a pillar at the age of seventeen, a little more than four months ago. He finally had his own dojo, built from the monthly compensation he got as a Hashira. Part of his responsibilities consist of protecting his assigned region. The yukaku- the red light district, that bordered the corner of his delegated lot was his last stop for the week before heading back to his own place, to once again train alone then with his fellow hashiras, not withstanding the instances their master would send them to a particular task.

Sanemi had to do the routine check once every three weeks. Each check took four to five days, sometimes a full week and give or take a day or two when questionable disappearances happened or when their master would send his hashiras off to a special mission via a crow, which so far happened to him three times already, the latest just yesterday.

He should have reached this area two nights ago and by now be on his way back to his dojo had the crow not summoned him to another area to take care of business, some lower-ranked slayers were screwing up. He found one kanoe dead and four kanoto incapacitated. The demons were relatively easy to dispatch. The sniveling morons profusely apologized and thanked him while he sewed up two of the kanotos who needed immediate care but left immediately to continue his routine check. The clean up crew could handle the rest of the wounded and transportation of the dead kanoe.

Like the other hashiras who have yet chosen a tsuguko, all responsibilities were on his shoulder and from the way none of the lower ranked demon slayers matched up to his standards, he would have no help or assistance in the foreseeable future. A fact he found acceptable, considering the choice of would-be tsuguko from yesterday left a foul taste in his mouth.

At the entrance of the yukaku, he felt an omnibus feeling that something was wrong. The busiest part of the town had been deserted. His ears immediately perked themselves searching out for sounds or anything unusual. His eyes darted back and fort, scanning for any sign of life.

As he walked closer to the streets, the metallic scent of blood assailed his nostrils. The area was familiar aside from this being part of his routine check, he remembered frequenting this parts in his youth just after _that _incident and even though it had been some years, he was able to remember the shortcuts. Along the way, he saw tinges of blood. His anger grew as he affirmed what he had been dreading. A demon attack.

Before joining the demon slayers, he stayed in this area for a time or two, enjoying all the debauchery it had to offer. He hadn't made friends but there were people here _he_ knew. And somehow finding out the death of an acquaintance was worse than a stranger's. _Probably because you know the face, the voice to go with the fucked up body._

He closed his eyes for a second before his hand reached for the hilt of his sword then he sprinted.

It was easy to find the abominations.

The first fucker he found was crunching on a young girl, he ignored the dead… he was not mistaken, he knew _some_ of them. It was easy to behead the gruesome shitheads especially when fueled by wrath. Sanemi moved on to _his_ next victim.

Everything seemed so mechanical, he felt the wounds where the demons would nick him, blood flowed and as usual he would press on until he killed every last one before even thinking to stitch himself up. In the middle of his adrenaline rush and as oxygen powered through his blood, he felt invincible. Three, four, five. Eight, Twelve. They were _nothing_ compared to his resolve.** Destroy** all demons.

It was sometime before his body started to get exhausted when he heard the faint sounds of a struggle then a scream. In a flash, Sanemi run to the opposite building where he heard the first and probably only survivor of this massacre.

Though it had been a period of time after Sanemi could no longer see vibrant colors, he had yet accustomed himself to distinguish the different hues of gray for him to correctly identify easily demons such as this: a thing that blended so well with the grays were swirling with each other, but after a few years of seeing almost in monochrome, Sanemi took a minute to get used to the vagueness. Moving fast, he surveyed the whole room.

He saw an unfamiliar face clawing at the demon. She was easy to see, her clothing was light and it presented a stark contrast to its dark surrounding.

The menace opened its mouth and flashed its teeth, the intent to eat was clear but before it could chew off the head of its light-colored wearing captive, he was able to slice off its arm.

It only took him a few minutes to kill the last of the monstrosities.

He walked towards where the girl had landed.

Even from afar he could tell she was not someone he knew. From his peripheral, he viewed the room and saw the expensive decoration, tatami mat and wooden furniture, frivolous things- he deemed. Even the torn kimono the girl wore was made of the finer silks.

Sanemi realized this was the part of the yukaku he never frequented or ever even darkened with his shadow.

Funny how the first time he would visit an okiya would be because of a demon extermination, but he was angry at himself for arriving too late, maybe arriving just an hour or even thirty minutes earlier would have saved more people. His anger beat like a tattoo in his chest.

His survivor was barely alive and was bleeding girl moaned. By the looks of her bleeding, it would need to close and fast.

He was no stranger to medical aid, having to patch himself up and the bodies of his colleagues every once in a while. He sewed open flesh together as efficiently as he could with little regard to how they would look like. As long as it won't get an infection and it would stay closed together, he was satisfied. Though he doubted that would this be acceptable in this girl's lifestyle. But what did he care?

The girl was losing blood at an alarming rate. With no one accompanying him to give first aid, the job fell on his shoulders before this one died from blood loss. He already sent his crow to inform the clean up crew of a massive burial, then to inform their master of the massacre. They would probably need to burn the place down.

Before wasting his effort stitching up a goner, he crouched down and tried to feel for a pulse.

The moment he touched the woman's neck and felt for her pulse; his own beat more rapidly and he felt some sort of warmth. Black eyes opened slightly and looked at his in confusion then they sickeningly turned to expectation and happiness. It made him sick. He immediately removed his fingers and gritted his teeth in rejection of the idea. He had no time for this nor was he remotely interested, in whatever _this_ meant in his life.

Grabbing his dagger, Sanemi moved her to her side. Stitching the girl up was easier when she finally lost consciousness. He proceeded to slice off the girl's kimono and underthings. The wound was as deep as he expected it to be, two slash marks marring down from her neck down to the small of her back. He poured anti-septic on it, if she had not lost consciousness earlier she would definitely had now.

Thoroughly, he started patching her skin together, his eyes careful not to stray at any other part of her body except her wound. Her skin was soft, and definitely different than those he was used to and he did not need any other visuals to cloud his judgement. When he was done, he grabbed one of the garments lying around and carelessly covered the girl with it.

\- o -

The first thing Mae Isayama saw when she opened her eyes, was the fire. _Why is there fire?_ Anxiety pulled her out of her sleep. When she sat up, pain shot through her back and the memories assailed her. _Sayuri. Oka-san._ Tears pooled on her eyes and down her face. When she felt the cool chill of the night hit her bare chest her hands instinctively pulled the cloth close to her front. She remembered almost dying as she tried to touch her back. Mae looked beneath the cloth and saw her kimono shredded as they pooled around her waist and they were a bit bloody. She was sure somebody saw her body while she was being stitched up. She immediately reddened.

"Stop moving dumbass." She looked at the man wearing the haori from earlier, he sat across from her while polishing his sword. _Dumbass_. It took her a minute to realize, she was the dumbass he was referring to. And that when she woke up, the cloth fell from her body exposing her front. Mae instinctively held the cloth against her chest tighter. She studied him and remembered he was the man from earlier, the one who saved her.

"Thank you for saving my life." Mae ignored his rudeness and bowed her head as much as her back allowed her to. She winced.

"Tch." Her savior sheathed his sword and stood up, "Your wound would take some months to heal and they won't heal pretty. Whatever you were before tonight, I doubt your scars would be accepted."

"I don't mind the scar. Thank you still." She pushed herself to get up, when she saw him start to walk out. Her back hurt so much, but she did not want to be left alone. Especially by him. Knowing who he was supposed to be to her.

"My name is Mae Isayama." She reverted back to her original name, as what he implied earlier, her career as a Maiko had ended, the lump of dissatisfaction and frustration was clawing at her heart. But she was still alive, wasn't she? She should be more thankful. Her life as a maiko and as a future geisha is dead, but she wasn't. She remembered again Sayuri, oka-san and the others. Tears blurred her eyes and she wiped them quickly.

Let her bury _that_ future tonight and she would push on forward. For all of them.

Mae received no response. Not that she was expecting anything. He was walking faster and grabbing a satchel when she tripped close to him. He only looked at her instead of helping her up. He started to walk again when she held onto his pant leg but quickly removed her hand when she saw how he glowered at her. If she hadn't seen this person save her from the demon just a little earlier, she would never believe this ruffian was capable of being nice. He looked at her like she was dirt, but she wasn't. And even if she was, did she not at least deserve to be treated a little more kindly?

_Maybe he didn't know?_

"Please take me with you. I'm your -. "

"I know." Mae felt shut down. He knew what or _who_ she was yet he could walk away so casually?

"You know but you'd still leave me?" She asked him softly. They know what a bond meant, many people paid fortunes to find out who their soulmates were. They found each other in happenstance, they could call it the will of the gods yet he would not even acknowledge her. Or even talk to her.

"I don't see how I have to fucking involve myself in your life." Even as Sanemi said it, he could already feel the responsibility hanging off his shoulder. Had he arrived here just a little earlier, there would be more survivors. They would not need to burn down this town, more importantly not so many people would have lost their lives. He couldn't be bothered to explain to her how little use a bond is in his life but he saw how Mae was desperately trying to stay upright though her back must be a burning pain as of the moment.

Mae started to sweat, her body was a mass of pain, but maybe if she could show him what she learned, he might be persuaded to bring her with him. Mae started to sing her favorite kouta, but where the notes should have been light and airy,her voice was downtrodden and breaking. She could barely even able to pronounce the words properly as she was crying. She wiped her tears away as she sat passively at the foot of this swordsman. She did not want to look up and see anymore displeasure, even she was disappointed in her performance and she felt like she shamed her whole okiya by her melt down.

" I have little use for entertainments or even dancing and singing in my life. I don't have time to spend the day lying around just to fucking listen to whatever you do." Mae saw the way, the swordsman eyed the remnants of instruments, hand-painted fans and colorful kimonos. She saw the way he looked down upon the 'entertainments' she so dedicated her life to learning, she swallowed her hurt. "The things I do need, a sheltered brat like you wouldn't be able to do."

"I am not a brat. I am not a dumbass." Mae tried to control her emotions, but it burst like a dam. "I am worth more than you think. I lived in poverty before I was sold into this okiya. I.. I worked and labored with my mother and father. We were poor, hungry and we were so tired everyday I felt it in my bones but we persevered and we were honest, if they.. if they hadn't died I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't have met my oka-san and my other sisters.. I.. I don't know what happened, We were _so happy_. Sayuri was just named as our heiress when this things suddenly appeared, we don't know how to defend ourselves.. The others stayed behind to be slaughtered just so Sayuri and I could escape but we weren't able to… Everybody is _dead_ except for me. I wouldn't be begging a stranger for help or even for a place to stay had I have anyone. Please."

They were silent for a time.

And Sanemi thought of another woman a lifetime ago. There was a stark difference between a pampered maiko and a battered working housewife. However, her words brought back some of his own childhood. He remembered a woman who worked so hard and labored everyday for her family and still those efforts were not enough, she got beat up as well as her children when there was not enough food on the table or even as unprovoked as when her shit husband- her fucking abuser, woke up in a foul mood. He knew what might happen to this maiko, that she might fall into another shitty hard ball in life but at the same time he did not owe her anything, bond or not. He was not responsible for her, bond or not.

He inhaled deeply.

"_If_ I take you with me." Sanemi could not believe he was hearing himself concede. She looked up at him, with hope starting to blossom. Boy, could he feel himself regretting his decision. He cursed the unwelcome weight of responsibility. "You'd only be a _servant_ and you would never be considered anything more. You got that? "

Mae looked at him and knew he meant it. She would not deny the fact that she was more used to being waited on hand and foot now but her earlier upbringing was still with her. She grew up in a family that tilled the soil and fended for themselves in hard winter months, surely she could do so again, and it would be no hardship. Tonight, she would start her third life. She nodded in agreement.

"Shinazugawa-sama" They were interrupted by masked individuals, showing reverie by bowing to their knees. Sanemi tilted his head towards her and immediately, two of those masked individuals came at her side, gently prodding her this way and that, inspecting her wounds and bandaging her. They only grimaced at her back, placed some ointment and dressed her in a clean yukata. She found Sayuri's sakura-painted haori and wore it.

Mae stood at the foot of the fresh burial mounds.

She was present when they cleaned off the bodies and buried them. The masked individuals were efficient. They moved fast and in only a few short hours everybody in her okiya was buried along with the whole town. While they were burying her house, she learned from them that the swordsman from earlier was named Shinazugawa Sanemi and where he lived, they wouldn't tell her anything beyond that for fear of angering the 'hashira'.

As she said a little prayer for each of her family, candles lit the foot of the mounds. In her hands, she lovingly held an assortment of her sisters' pins and their oka-san's head piece. She even saved some of the keepsakes of their helpers. She knew they wouldn't mind and they might even be happy there would always be something of them that would stay with her. Her tears flowed as she apologized for being the only one to survive.

She held her haori closer to her body to ward of the chill. She felt a light tap on her shoulder.

"Grab whatever the fuck you want here, we're burning the whole town."

She did not need anything other than the pins she held in her hand, the haori she wore and some of the plainer garments for a few change of clothes. She left behind her shamisen, kimonos and other luxuries as she followed Shinazugawa Sanemi away from her burning home.

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Thank you so much for reading!


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